Dataset Information

Neuropsychiatry of frontal lobe dysfunction in violent and criminal behaviour: a critical review.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To establish the link between frontal lobe dysfunction and violent and criminal behaviour, based on a review of relevant literature.

Methods

Articles relating evidence of frontal lobe dysfunction with violence or crime were collected through a MEDLINE search using the keyword "frontal lobe" combined with the terms "aggression," "violence," "crime," "antisocial personality disorder," "psychopathy," "impulse control disorders", and "episodic dyscontrol." Reference lists were then searched for additional articles.

Results

High rates of neuropsychiatric abnormalities reported in persons with violent and criminal behaviour suggest an association between aggressive dyscontrol and brain injury, especially involving the frontal lobes. The studies reviewed support an association between frontal lobe dysfunction and increased aggressive and antisocial behaviour. Focal orbitofrontal injury is specifically associated with increased aggression. Deficits in frontal executive function may increase the likelihood of future aggression, but no study has reliably demonstrated a characteristic pattern of frontal network dysfunction predictive of violent crime.

Conclusions

Clinically significant focal frontal lobe dysfunction is associated with aggressive dyscontrol, but the increased risk of violence seems less than is widely presumed. Evidence is strongest for an association between focal prefrontal damage and an impulsive subtype of aggressive behaviour.

SUBMITTER: Brower MC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1737651 | biostudies-literature | 2001 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Neuropsychiatry of frontal lobe dysfunction in violent and criminal behaviour: a critical review.

Brower M C MC Price B H BH

Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry 20011201 6

<h4>Objectives</h4>To establish the link between frontal lobe dysfunction and violent and criminal behaviour, based on a review of relevant literature.<h4>Methods</h4>Articles relating evidence of frontal lobe dysfunction with violence or crime were collected through a MEDLINE search using the keyword "frontal lobe" combined with the terms "aggression," "violence," "crime," "antisocial personality disorder," "psychopathy," "impulse control disorders", and "episodic dyscontrol." Reference lists w ...[more]

PMID: 11723190

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Project description:BackgroundViolence is one of the leading causes of injury and death in the United States. One-way society attempts to eliminate violence is through criminal punishment. Yet, in many contexts, punishment fails to reduce violence and may cause other harms. Current research on violence often suffers from same-source bias which can produce spurious associations. This study assesses the associations of different forms of criminal punishment (monetary sanctions, incarceration, and probation) with violent injuries in two unique datasets.MethodsThis study examines a unique combination of hospital discharge data and court administrative data, two Minnesota county-level data sources. First, we assess the spatial distribution of the three criminal punishment variables and two violent injury variables, violent injury overall and violent injury in children by county from 2010 to 2014, using Moran's I statistic and Local Indicators of Spatial Autocorrelation. Then we assess the association of criminal punishment on violent injury and child abuse injury using a two-way fixed effects panel models.ResultsChild abuse injuries are relatively rare in our data but are significantly concentrated geographically, unlike violent injuries which are more dispersed throughout Minnesota. Incarceration and probation are significantly geographically concentrated in similar regions while monetary sanctions are not geographically concentrated. We find a link between probation loads and violent injury, specifically, with a 1 day increase in per capita probation supervision associated with a 0.044 increase in violent injury incidence per 1000 people. In contrast, monetary sanctions and incarceration loads have little association with either violent injury or child abuse injury incidence.ConclusionsCriminal punishment is intended to reduce harm in society, but many argue that it may bring unintended consequences such as violence. This study finds that county-level probation has a modest positive association with county-level violent injury rates, but monetary sanctions and incarceration are less associated with violence injury rates. No measure of criminal punishment was associated with a reduction in violence. This study addresses a gap in previous literature by examining the association of punishment and violence in two unrelated datasets. High rates of criminal punishment and violent injury are both urgent public health emergencies. Further individual-level investigation is needed to assess potential links.

Project description:Myotonic dystrophy type 1 is an autosomal dominant multisystemic disorder affecting muscular and extra muscular systems, including the central nervous system. Cerebral involvement in myotonic dystrophy type 1 is associated with subtle cognitive and behavioural disorders, of major impact on socio-professional adaptation. The social dysfunction and its potential relation to frontal lobe neuropsychology remain under-evaluated in this pathology. The neuroanatomical network underpinning that disorder is yet to disentangle. Twenty-eight myotonic dystrophy type 1 adult patients (mean age: 46 years old) and 18 age and sex-matched healthy controls were included in the study. All patients performed an exhaustive neuropsychological assessment with a specific focus on frontal lobe neuropsychology (motivation, social cognition and executive functions). Among them, 18 myotonic dystrophy type 1 patients and 18 healthy controls had a brain MRI with T1 and T2 Flair sequences. Grey matter segmentation, Voxel-based morphometry and cortical thickness estimation were performed with Statistical Parametric Mapping Software SPM12 and Freesurfer software. Furthermore, T2 white matter lesions and subcortical structures were segmented with Automated Volumetry Software. Most patients showed significant impairment in executive frontal functions (auditory working memory, inhibition, contextualization and mental flexibility). Patients showed only minor difficulties in social cognition tests mostly in cognitive Theory of Mind, but with relative sparing of affective Theory of Mind and emotion recognition. Neuroimaging analysis revealed atrophy mostly in the parahippocampal and hippocampal regions and to a lesser extent in basal ganglia, regions involved in social navigation and mental flexibility, respectively. Social cognition scores were correlated with right parahippocampal gyrus atrophy. Social dysfunction in myotonic dystrophy type 1 might be a consequence of cognitive impairment regarding mental flexibility and social contextualization rather than a specific social cognition deficit such as emotion recognition. We suggest that both white matter lesions and grey matter disease could account for this social dysfunction, involving, in particular, the frontal-subcortical network and the hippocampal/arahippocampal regions, brain regions known, respectively, to integrate contextualization and social navigation.

Dataset Information

Neuropsychiatry of frontal lobe dysfunction in violent and criminal behaviour: a critical review.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Neuropsychiatry of frontal lobe dysfunction in violent and criminal behaviour: a critical review.

Similar Datasets

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